KEEN sailor Alex Alley is hoping to break eight world records in the next two years with the final attempt a solo around the world trip in his 40ft yacht.

The 45-year-old wants to beat the current record of 137 days, 20 hours one minutes and 57 seconds which was set by Chinese sailor Guo Chuan.

To help fund the trip, Alex is asking people to make a minimum £25 donation to feature a picture of their choice on the side of the boat in one of thousands of squares.

So far, people have submitted images of their pets, partners, themselves or in memory of relatives who have died.

Alex, from Alverstoke in Gosport, said: ‘The plan is to break eight world records in the next two years culminating in the solo non-stop around the world trip. I am hoping to beat the current record for boats my size.

‘I am excited about the challenge. I have a lot of records and a lot of sailing to do over the next couple of years so I just want to get out and start attempting to break those records.

The plan is to break eight world records in the next two years culminating in the solo non-stop around the world trip.

Alex Alley

‘I am really looking forward to it.’

The eight different world record attempts range from short ones to transatlantic records with the final solo around the world trip hoping to take place in 2017.

Alex says it is great to start seeing the trip come together as he has been thinking about it for six years.

He added: ‘I have been working on this campaign for about six years trying to find sponsorship. It isn’t cheap to do so trying to find a big, single sponsor has been very difficult.

‘A couple of years ago, I came up with the idea of having about 10 sponsors who would only have to pay part of the fee and then I thought “why not have thousands?”. That’s how I came up with the idea about people paying to get a picture on the boat.’

So far, the side of the boat has pictures from individual people as well as businesses.

Alex said: ‘People from all walks of life and all over the world have got involved.

‘I have been sent pictures of somebody’s dog, pictures of their children, wedding photos and a few people have put up pictures as a memory of a deceased relative. All sorts of people have come together for it.’